Kehinde Fajobi
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Friday revealed that eight terrorist commanders in the Northcentral region have surrendered to troops, with more expected to follow in the coming weeks.
Maj-Gen Edward Buba, Director of Defence Media Operations, disclosed the development, identifying the commanders as Yellow Jambros, Alhaji Mallam, Ardo Idi (alias Alhaji Lawal), Lawal Kwalba, Salkado, Yellow Ibrahim, Gana’e, and Babangida.
Maj-Gen Buba attributed the surrender to persistent military offensives and non-kinetic measures, including collaborative efforts with local stakeholders to encourage such actions.
He explained, “A non-kinetic collaborative effort with stakeholders has been deployed to encourage the surrendering process.”
Despite this progress, he emphasised that troops would maintain their operational tempo to ensure further surrenders or the complete destruction of terrorist elements.
“Troops will continue to sustain operational tempo in order to destroy or cause further surrendering by terrorists,” he stated.
Providing an update on military operations within the week, Gen. Buba reported that troops neutralised 135 terrorists and arrested 185 criminals across different theatres of operation.
Furthermore, 61 oil thieves were apprehended, and 129 kidnap victims were rescued during the operations.
He added that troops recovered a significant cache of weapons and ammunition, including 72 AK-47 rifles, 11 fabricated rifles, 15 dane guns, three locally made pistols, eight pump-action guns, four hand grenades, and one RPG bomb and tube.
Ammunition recovered included 1,554 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 380 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 203 rounds of 7.62x39mm ammo, 129 live cartridges, and various other munitions.
Maj-Gen Buba reiterated the military’s commitment to ensuring peace and stability across the region, highlighting that these achievements were part of broader efforts to secure the country and disrupt criminal activities.